MCYC Goes to EarthX in Dallas

This year the Mendocino County Youth for Climate, a partner in the Coalition to Save Jackson, sponsored by the Trail Stewards and a program of Overstand, celebrated Earth Day with a trip to EarthX in Dallas TX. EarthX is the world's largest environmental expo and conference and seeks to help find solutions to environmental problems. Sara Rose and Ravel Gauthier Co-Founders of the Mendocino County Youth for Climate, made it to Dallas for EarthX2022. Thank you to the financial support from countless other activists that made this important trip possible.

Their attendance was wildly productive. They met with other climate activists from around the world, spreading the word about the JDSF movement and gaining many allies working on the ground and in the UN system. They also met with UN ambassadors, prime ministers, and congresspeople, all dedicated to getting youth involved in climate negotiations at the highest level.

Some of the climate change heroes Ravel and Sara met included: The creator of Tetris and founder of Blue Planet Alliance, Henk Rogers; Ayisha Siddiqa, founder of an organization called "Polluters Out" that aims to get fossil fuel companies out of climate negotiating rooms; the Prime Minister of Sint Maarten; the UN ambassador from Vanuatu; and the leader of School Strike 4 Climate Australia.

Additionally, Ravel and Sara recorded an HD joint TedX-Style talk about the injustice in Jackson. It will be played between programs on EarthXTV, helping raise worldwide awareness. They were also interviewed for a podcast called Conservation Connections about the issues in JDSF.

The event was very much a prelude to COP27 (The 2022 UN climate change conference, in Sharm el Shelke) as well as COY17 (The youth branch of the event). Many of the youth there were involved at the highest level, working within the UN system, and Ravel and Sara learned more about how to do that.

Ravel and Sara have been placed on the list of invitees for EarthX2023 and will almost definitely be attending that event as well. Ravel and Sara attending EarthX2022 was a positive, productive, and lucrative experience for the MCYC and the JDSF movement as a whole.